Exactly -- removing toxic people from your life is Step One toward having a more pleasant life. Sometimes, they're family, so we can't drop them 100% from our lives without some repercussions. In those cases, shifting them to the far outer periphery -- at least emotionally, if we can't do it physically at the moment -- will serve a positive purpose.
But sometimes, it takes important events in our lives to understand who our REAL friends are. That goes for good events AND bad events. If they don't want us anywhere near them when we're having a hard time in life, they are not friends. And if they respond with negativity, instead of being happy for us when good things happen for us, then they're not friends, either.
Insecure people are the ones who have to tear everyone and everything else down, so nothing is higher than they perceive themselves to be. That requires less effort than building themselves up and raising themselves higher, so they tear down everything instead. You don't need these people around you to limit your progress at every opportunity. If they want to wallow in their limitations, that's up to them, but YOU don't have to buy into their game.
Having said that, it's possible to add crystals to the mix to clear up the negative-energy mess they've sent our way. Most black stones are beneficial in this regard: Black Tourmaline, Hematite, Obsidian, Onyx, and Smoky Quartz, to name a few. Diane Stein wrote a whole listing on which stones aborb negative energy, which ones deflect it back to the sender, which ones transmute it... I never memorized all that, but I did make a mental note that those stones can help us get rid of negative energy. The stones I mentioned are all relatively easily obtained, and with the possible exception of Tourmaline, shouldn't be too expensive.
Clear Quartz is always a good go-to stone, as well, especially since it can be programmed with intentions like "shield me from negative energies".
This, plus the using of sound energies or smudging to clear out your workspace, living space, vehicle, etc. of unwanted vibes, plus removing the sources of negativity from your life as much as possible, should do the trick.
If the life-changing event in question was something happy or an achievement you have made, then let me say CONGRATULATIONS.